Good Morning from my Robotics Lab! This is Shadow_8472, and today, I am printing out the corner brackets of the anti-cat case for my 3D printer. Let’s get started.
The best projects are those that build upto higher existing goals. This week is printing files from online. The Cura software my 3D printer came with is apparently what is known as a slicer. From my research, you can model up any 3d object with as much precision as the limitations of your computer will let you. But in the end, the 3D printer can only print so small. A slicer translates a 3D object file of pure mathematics into a set of instructions for the printer to follow. For the purposes of this blog, Cura is a software extension of my printer.
There are two ways to get the sliced pattern to the printer. SD card, or USB cable. I don’t have enough USB extensions to reach the printer, so I’m operating on SD card right now. I only have one USB card reader on a modern machine, but I remembered one of our old computers in the garage having a multi-card reader. I extracted the module, but quickly learned there weren’t any appropriate internal connectors. The old computer in question was using PATA cables, which look like ribbons instead of the more wire shaped SATA cables of more recent years. Maybe in the future, I’ll see if soldering something up is an option.
I used the rest of my sample filament to print up a potential bracket to hold my 3D printer case. I knew I’d run out before the printer finished, but the sample produced was enough to know a finished version, even one scaled up to be big enough wouldn’t work. Of note, I told Cura to do a fast job on the piece, and I had a harder time separating the raft from the bracket. I’m going to do some more experimentation when I print up the upper corners. The regular print speed is estimated at 6+ hours and the fast at about 3+. Expect the full results next week.
The part I am printing for this project can be found here. The linked page provides the download and says it’s in what’s known as Creative Commons. While I don’t know exactly what that means, I understand it to mean the file creator gives permission to anyone to use their part for whatever purpose without royalties, even if it is part of your product you sell.
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I have started the first corner, on fast, and it should take between 3 and 3.5 hours. I opened up my first full spool of filament. Setting up this job took longer than expected. First of all, the 1KG spool didn’t fit on the spool rack, so my father and I had to improvise a wide enough one. A more permanent fix may involve printing up a part to fit correctly.
I also had trouble loading the new filament. The instructions said to cut an inch off at an angle, and I did, but it kept having trouble grabbing it. The last, little bit of the white sample filament was still in there, so I set it up and told it to go. The thing started printing a ghost raft.
The filament wasn’t loaded properly. I tried preheating and loading a few times, but I told it to load, it kept making a clicking noise like it couldn’t grab the end. I had to cut it again at a steeper angle before the machine took it. The extruder oozed a white string that turned red as it went. I was secretly hoping to have the color change happen on the raft for the bracket, but seeing it working correctly was also good. In pulling the tangle away, the hot plastic formed a fine thread, as fine as human hair, though it didn’t feel as strong.
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Half done, and no major problems remaining so far. I am noticing a bunch of places where the filament is forming like a web in places where it isn’t required. My guess is that’s the fast mode complaining a little. I’ll have to clean the visible ones out. I’m also not getting the Forbidden Planet feeling like before. Either I’m getting used to the sound of the printer or it’s the fast mode. Maybe I’ll print up one on each setting and compare them side by side. Weight, Raft separation, and print time should come into play. I should also take note which corner is which in the case one of them cracks while the case is being assembled or later during use.
Of note, some of my first builds seemed to have some stuff printed into them. I wonder if some stuff from my hands got onto the sample filament and the printer passed it.
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The print job finished. I’m going to leave the raft on until I have the “normal” and “high” quality prints of the same job done. Final Question: I had to ward my cat off of my printer part way through. Have you ever had a pet almost hurt themselves on a hobby project?
At this point, I went into various fuzzily related details to create suspense, such as how I couldn’t find my other SATA cable or how I didn’t have the correct mounting for my case for this HDD. I yanked the unformatted SSD and connected the HDD and let it rest just outside the case. (The picture is from just now, not then.) Anyway, at one point, the drive was putting its weight on the power cable, so I started turning it over. My father cringed as I slowly rotated the box to avoid too strong of a gyroscopic effect on the spinning disks. He told me that Hard drives used to be sensitive to the orientation they were in when they were first formatted: they must not have had as good motor control for the read heads. While this is an aging HDD, it isn’t 90’s technology, the latest example cited as not being up to being turned on end.